July 2012
Countdown clock reaches ZERO
I arrived at the pool Friday afternoon, walked on the pool deck to see the 2012 London Olympics coundown clock, the one I have watched since it said 472 days display 2 minutes, 38 seconds. I grabbed my camera and videotaped the final moments of the coundown as 30 of my fellow teammates watched. Although it was a bit anticlimatic, it was mildly exciting to finally see it reach zero. Everybody on the deck counted aloud for the last 10 seconds. I was glad to be a part of the mini event after staring at that clock for the past year of my life. Apparently the clock for Rio 2016 Olympics will be installed tomorrow. Looking forward to it!
Let the games begin!
The 2012 Olympic Games have begun! I think I will enjoy these Olympics the most since I know so many more Olympians than I did in years past.
Swimming Schedule is here:
http://www.london2012.com/swimming/schedule-and-results/
A great article and pictures of the pool construction:
Ten days of updates
I've had a great week of practices. I've found a balance between training and life/work lately which has been really nice after so much focus on training for the past 14 months. I chose to work more lately and only train once a day for a total of 6 practices a week, down from 10+. I've done some of my own dryland training simply because I've put more emphasis on work and less on attending scheduled dryland time. I feel bad about missing practice but it seems like a great time to balance training and life like I have. I may change back to "doing doubles" by training twice a day again sometime soon. For now, this is working well for me.
Last Tuesday brought a short course race pace set. It was very straightforward in it's structure. I appreciated it for that reason. It was 6 x 50's on the 10 minute. It was all about quality. I had a respectable set, not great, not bad:
50y Fly: 22.9
50y Fly: 22.6
50y Fly: 23.1
50y Fly: 22.7
50y Free: 21.5
50y Back: 23.4
I was racing a butterflier who was 21 seconds on each one, typically around 21.5. Very quick indeed. It was great motivation.
On Saturday we had a 100m race pace set long course. It was pretty simple as well compared to some of the brain busters we've had in the past:
50m Dive Green (swimming the first 50m of a 100m race) @ :45
3 x 25m Push Green @ :30
Tween
50m Dive Green @ :45
2 x 25m Green @ :30
Tween
50m Dive Green @ :45
1 x 25m Green @ :30
Tween
50m Dive Green @ :45
I swam the entire set butterfly. I was 25.x to 26.x on all the 50's with the 25's in the 13-15 second range. I was a 25.7, 26.5, 25.5 and 25.6 on the 50's dive.
Today we swam a single 100y dive for time. I warmed up for 30 minutes which included some burst swimming. I chose to swim a 100y fly. I was racing the 2011 BigTen champion in the event. I touched the wall in a disapointing 51.30 to his 49.60. I really expected to be faster than that. I have some slow turns. I find it ironic that I actually prefer long course swimming now.
My first real sled dog practice!
As usual, Saturday was a "race pace" set. While I was looking at the workout before practice. There were only two paths:
- A "100m" practice aimed at the Sprinters, it involved buckets/power-rack and bands.
- A "400m" practice that all the MD and D guys
I had a chance to take what I considered the easy way out, and go with the typical 100m workout. At that point I noticed that the 400m set was essentially a threshhold set. Twice in the set we were supposed to hold 8 x 50m to add up to a 400m time. Those two sets were split with a 372m swim. That particular swim was meant to aim at a 400m pace but without the hardest last 28 meters. I chose the 400m workout. I'm very glad I did
I did not excel in the workout. I was among the slowest in the pool actually but I felt GREAT after the workout. I yearn for a higher workload and I got that today and more.
I have a chance to swim a masters meet at EMU tomorrow (long course). I'm up very late working and will only get about 3 hours of sleep if I choose to go. Although I've raced on even less rest, I'm not very motivated to race. I'm really feeling like I just got back from Omaha and the best meet of my life. There is nothing I can prove at EMU this weekend that could possibly exceed what I accomplished last week in Nebraska. I will be overtired and run down from a week of training and a lot of manual labor on Saturday.
Historically I have attended this meet for years. I'm not happy that I missing it but I think it is the right decision to rest up instead.
Back at it
After a full day off I joined the team Wednesday afternoon for a "recovery" workout. The team had finished a race pace set Tuesday afternoon so they were ready for a break. I was tempted to do a hard workout on my own but decided it was better to just take it easy for a day. I was back at the pool this morning at 6am for a 1 hour weight session followed by a 1 hour swim. It felt good to lift and train again. For weeks now I've been taking it easy during my taper. It was refreshing to beat myself up a bit.
Over the next few days I will need to say goodbye and good luck to a few of my teammates leaving for the Olympics. My friends will represent the USA, China, Barbados and Serbia. This will be the first Olympics which I'll be a bit torn on who to root for. My nationality and allegiance tells me to support and cheer for anybody swimming for the USA. On the other hand, I've found some great friends in my teammates, they just happen to represent other countries. As much as I love my country, when I see a teammate racing, I'm going to support them along with the U.S. swimmers.
a FULL day off
I realized today that I swam every day for about the last 3 weeks. I took a full day off to celebrate my triumphant return to Michigan. I half expected a parade down main street. I'm sure it was just a scheduling error.
It wasn't all that relaxing of a day since I worked 15 hours but it was still good to see something other than the line on the bottom of the pool.
IT CAN BE DONE - You might want to skip this post
You've been warned.
In 2010 I decided to become a vegetarian. If you watch enough documentarys about the meat industry, it's tough not to make some changes in how you eat. Trust me on that one. My life didn't really change much even after a few months of no meat, I still eat at every restaurant. I even go to a steakhouse with friends and can find something to eat. I never bring the topic up myself, people often can't avoid asking me about my menu choice though. Last year I joined a training program which included Olympic Coaches and Swimmers, all who ate meat, and plenty of it. I often wondered if my diet would support the training and my caloric needs. Within a few months I was pretty sure I would survive. Almost a year later I would see a Nutrition Specialist who confirmed I was doing just fine on food intake and caloric needs. I kept my diet entirely to myself for the first 3 months, during which time I was clearly the slowest swimmer on the team. I never wanted somebody to have any legitimacy in a mindset of "well he doesn't eat meat so he can't keep up". I knew I was just as good with or without meat. Months later, my teammates would slowly find out about my different diet through team dinners. I never once brought it up because I wanted it to be a non-issue. Over the course of the past 12 months. I've achieved 23 lifetime best times while building muscle mass without any nutrition suppliments at all. The most lifetime best times in my entire life over that time period. My point is:
IT CAN BE DONE
I can not only survive but thrive on a diet that includes no meat at all. I'm the fastest swimmer I've ever been, by far. Regarding the last 2 years, I did it without vountarily harming a single animal. I feel good about that. Among my goals in life is to uplift othes and contribute information to the world while minimizing my negative impact on others and the earth. I feel like I've accomplished that. I aspire to be a vegan but I haven't figured out how to do that just yet. I still eat eggs and cheese. I'll get there though.
I'll just apologize to those who are offended by alternate diet type topics. I felt the need to post this because many people told me I couldn't do what I've just done. Modern dietary science supports my theory that one can survive just fine without meat. I proved it and I'm proud of my accomplishments. I recommend you eat whatever you want!
2012 USMS Summer Nationals Meet Recap
Yesterday I finished my final swim at the 2012 USMS Summer Nationals in Omaha, Nebraska. Although I wish my final day would have been more successful, overall I had an incredible meet. I achieved 5 lifetime best times and 3 new American Records in the 30-34 age group to make the final record tally an even 4. I met new people and smiled even more than I did at Olympic Trials last week.
The day started out with another great breakfast at the "Garden Inn" where I was staying near the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. I highly recommend it if you're in the area. The breakfast can't be beat, what great way to start the day! The hotel itself offered fantastic service and was 2 blocks from the "Old Market" area of Omaha which featured plenty of local restaurants and shops. I relaxed for a bit and packed up my belongings before heading to the pool at noon for my scheduled 1pm swim. I arrived in plenty of time and got to catch up with some old friends I hadn't seen at the meet yet. By my 3rd day at the meet I was still introducing myself to other swimmers but I began getting "oh you're that guy who swam the...." type comments when they recognized my name. It was flattering and a little ironic since nobody cared who I was the week prior since I wasn't in the top 3 at Olympic Trials! I warmed up and prepared for my 100 backstroke. As much as I tried to ignore it, my backstroke just didn't feel great. I knew it would be a rough race for me. I felt the pressure I was putting on myself. Over the course of the last 2 days I had demolished my lifetime bests in 4 events, I was 4 for 4 leading into the day. I had a chance to make it 5 for 5 and then 6 for 6. Since I swim the 100 backstroke at EVERY SINGLE MEET, it will be the most difficult to drop time in for probability reasons alone. I was up against my best of a 57.44 (I've thrown out my 57.00 body suit time) which I achieved last summer at Stanford. My time of 58.4 last week at Olympic Trials was nowhere near my best. I needed to do something special to drop over a second. During warmup I focused on my legs quite a bit. Afterward, I did a single full speed backstroke start and kick out. It was a flawless start, I cooled it down 200m and got out. I put on my race suit for the 5th time of the weekend and headed over to the blocks to wait 15 minutes before heat 16 was called. I watched a new friend Jeff Commings beat his seed time in the 100m back by a half a second just before my heat! With a huge smile on his face, he pounded the water a few times and pumped his fist. It made me happy to see him so pleased with his swim. It was especially satisfying because I knew for a fact that he was ONLY celebrating his time and NOT his ranking. Jeff pushed himself to improve himself and I can appreciate that. I congratulated him as he responded "I warmed up lane 4 for you", I smiled as the whistle was called to begin our heat. In the seconds before my race I could see a man with a large video camera to my right. The USMS staff had mentioned they wanted to do a short interview with me so I assumed it was part of that process. As I jumped in the water and set my hands and feet on those impossible to do a good start on interesting Omega pads I saw the camera guy to the left getting a close up. It was distracting but I tuned it out pretty well. The buzzer went off and I had a perfect start and underwater kicking. I knew I had to take it out hard if I wanted that 57 second time. My effort was controlled and my speed seemed good. I had a satisfactory turn and great underwater kicks off the 50 meter wall. I surfaced and ROCKED that last 50 meters. I faded at the end but not as much as usual. I reached for the wall and touched in a 57.58. Although I was happy to see a 57 second swim and the 2nd fastest time of my life, I couldn't muster a smile, even for the camera. I was consumed with the fact that beginning in April of 2011 I had trained for 2 months, tagged a 57.44, and a year later swam nearly the same time. I was disappointed to say the least. Seconds later I managed to give the jumbotron a little half smile as it zoomed in on my face. Later I would find out that I didn't take it out nearly fast enough. My first 50 was a 27.53 but I brought it home in an impressive (for me) 30.05! If I can be proud of anything, at least I brought it home well. My time did not exceed my lifetime best of 57.44, missing it by just 0.14 seconds. I already had the American record in the event though. My lifetime best tally stood at 4 out of 5 swims for the weekend. As I exited the pool, Gold Medalist Misty Hyman was right there with a microphone and a camera crew to do an interview. I was VERY winded and this might have been the worst time ever to ask me to gather my thoughts about my return to competition and what I thought about masters swimming. Although I was breathing heavy, I managed to get some mostly coherent thoughts out while keeping my responses brief and relevant. It was nice to meet Misty and I got a few handshakes as I left the pool deck. (VIDEO HERE)
I spent the next few hours socializing and meeting people. Masters is just a great group of people.
My final swim of the day was the 50m fly. I was confident, perhaps over confident of my ability to get a 24 low second swim. The American record was a 24.73 and the world record was a 24.15. I really thought I had a chance at that world record with a good swim. I did everything right leading up to my race. My butterfly felt great in my 100 fly two days prior and my warmup was flawless. I felt like I could just effortlessly glide across the water. It was an amazing feeling. With my first 50 meter time as part of my 100 fly last week being 24.67, I felt like a higher effort swim would yield a significant time drop. After a few "good luck" comments back and forth between swimmers, I was ready to race. I heard the gun and blasted off to a perfect start. As I saw the 15m mark on the bottom of the pool approach, I realized I was too deep and surfaced a bit abruptly. I was up by 15 meters but only barely. In the video it's clear I slow down drastically in the last 1 meter before the marker. My stroke felt rushed but that's natural with it being a 50. In hindsight I should have either breathed every other stroke (like my 100m), or not at all. I took one breath with an emphasis on lifting my face high to avoid swallowing water, my effort failed and I began choking on water at the 35 meter mark. I buried my head and finished the race coughing and choking. I touched the wall and looked up to see "DOAK, KEVIN MICH ------ 24.59". I was happy to have broken the American Record but really wish it had at least been closer to the world record of 24.15.
This meet taught me to trust myself, my taper and my coaches. Although I believe I need significantly more kick training, my taper worked. I achieved 5 lifetime best times in 3 days, the 6th swim was only a tenth of a second off of my best. It was probably the best meet of my life. I'm proud to say I'm the fastest swimmer I've ever been in my life at the age of 31. I'm in the best shape ever and I'm doing a sport that truly makes me happy. Swimming has provided me friends, a great work ethic, business contacts, self esteem, experience in setting goals and plenty of smiles along the way.
Quick interview with Olympian Misty Hyman
I met and was interviewed by Gold Medalist from the 2000 Olympics Misty Hyman right after my 100 m backstroke. Video below.
2012 USMS Summer Nationals Day 3 Preview
Today I swim the 100m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly. The timeline is not exact but it should be something like:
100m Backstroke at 1:00pm Central (2:00pm Eastern) heat 16 lane 4
50m Butterfly at 3:30pm Central (4:30pm Eastern) heat 20 lane 4
Live Results:
http://www.usms.org/comp/lcnats12/realtime/
Live Steam Video:
http://www.usms.org/comp/lcnats12/stream.php
2012 USMS Summer Nationals Day 2 Recap
I'm on FIRE! Four for Four! I added two more lifetime best times to my meet accomplishments today. I couldn't be happier!
The day began with a morning of relaxing. I got an impressive free breakfast at my hotel and I did something I've almost never done before: I laid around for a few hours. I literally just stayed in my room and laid low all morning. I got a little work done but for the most part, it was just a bunch of zero energy usage time. It was very foreign to me. I headed to the pool about 50 minutes before my first swim. I warmed up quickly and changed into my race suit.
First up was my 100m Freestyle. A few short months ago I was a 53.64 in the event. Even when I achieved that time I knew I was much better than that. In the months that followed I dropped to a 53.23 only to time trial the event last week at Olympic Trials and touch in a surprising 52.05. It was a great swim and it really gave me some mental strength to get through the rest of the week after a poor performance in my 100 backstroke. After two great swims yesterday, I knew I had hit my taper perfectly. This was going to be a good swim. I prepared behind the blocks and shook my competitors hands before the race. I really enjoy how friendly everybody is at Masters meets, its really refreshing versus USA meets. At that moment a teammate from Michigan passed by and asked "what is the trials cut in the 100 free?" I responded: "I think it's a 51.49". He responded "Then that's what I want to see", I answered him with a smile. As we got up on the blocks, I felt excited to dive in. I had a surprising amount of confidence. I knew I was going to tear it up. I knew this was going to be a lifetime best time, I just didn't know by how much. After a 52.05 I really wanted to see a "51" on the board. When the gun went off I exploded off the blocks, perfect start. I did a few dolpin kicks and surfaced without issue. I took a few strokes and looked left and right, I couldn't see a single other swimmer. I was long and strong all the way to the first wall. My turn was a bit long and therefore slow but I got a good push and some strong kicks. I breathed on my first stroke again, I hated myself for taking that breath but I didn't let it bring me down. I powered through the 75m mark. I noticed I was circle swimming but I didn't even bother correcting my lane position, I was too busy hauling. As the 85m mark passed below me I felt the muscle burn set in. I began to slow down but I kept my stroke together and reached for that wall with desperation. I turned around to see myself on the JUMBOTRON, the smile creeped on my face. I was watching myself smile at the scoreboard. It was a great moment. I heard people cheering and clapping, they definitely weren't all clapping for me, but I pretended for a moment that they were. The scoreboard looked amazing. DOAK, KEVIN MICH ---- 51.59. Later I would find out my time was the 2nd fastest in American History behind Olympian Rowdy Gaines (51.50). It was one of the greatest swims of my life. I was out in a blazing (for me) time of 24.50 and home strong. This was a great swim for me. This made 3 for 3 lifetime best times for the meet. Later when I was warming down a talented swimmer came up to me and said "Before your race I told myself that I'll just use Kevin's swim as my goal time. After I saw you go 51.5 I just said... I'll just do my best". It was a funny comment and made me smile.
Next up was the 50m Backstroke. Arguably my signature event. I knew that if I did everthing right it would yield a lifetime best time. I was pretty sure that the world record of 26.06 was out of reach but I didn't count it out. I was aiming at the American Record of 26.59. That time represented 0.05 seconds faster than my best time of 26.64 but I knew I could do it. I had a few nice conversations behind the blocks with fellow swimmers before getting ready to race. When it was time I was ready to go. We jumped in the water and waited for the gun. I didn't have the best start because I jerked a little after the "take your marks" and before the gun. I was delayed getting off the wall but I don't think it hurt my time too much. I had a good backstroke start but probably came up too soon. I imagine I got 13 meters off the start. I surfaced and settled right into my stroke. It felt good and I didn't hit the laneline once. I was disapointed when I started to fade at 40 meters. I struggled quite a bit the last 5 meters as usual. Even with a pathetic finish I touched in an National Record time of 26.42 dropping 0.22 seconds off my lifetime best. Again I looked up at the JUBMOTRON and saw my ugly mug smiling on the big screen. That made 4 for 4 lifetime best times.
The next hour of my life was filled with smiles. I just felt like I couldn't be stopped. Everytime I had hit the water it was the fastest I had ever swum the event. I've enjoyed telling the stories a few times now. It's been a great two days. Tomorrow I have the 100m Backstroke and the 50m Butterfly. Based on how I've been feeling, I don't have a whole lot of confidence in the 100m backstroke. I would love to see a 57 second swim, I hope it's in the cards. I'm very excited for the 50m Butterfly though. I'm aiming at the world record of 24.15. I think it's within reach with a great swim. The National Record is 24.73. Since I took out my 100m Butterfly at trials in a 24.67 I think I have a chance at one or both records. Looking forward to it!
2012 USMS Summer Nationals Day 2 Preview
Today I swim the 100m Free and 50m Backstroke. The timeline is not exact but it should be something like:
100m Freestyle at 12:15pm Central (1:15pm Eastern) heat 35 lane 4
50m Backstroke at 3:00pm Central (4:00pm Eastern) heat 23 lane 4
Live Results:
http://www.usms.org/comp/lcnats12/realtime/
Live Steam Video:
http://www.usms.org/comp/lcnats12/stream.php
2012 USMS Summer Nationals Day 1 Recap
Two for Two! I swam twice today and tagged dual lifetime bests!
First up was my 100m Butterfly. I took it out in a relaxed 25.07. It actually felt a little too relaxed, borderline slow with a slow turn. I cranked it up off the wall, probably kicked a solid 11m and brought it home strong to touch in a National Record time of 54.83. I was a half a second away from the world record of 54.19. Although it doesn't matter, I was faster than the non-body era world record set in 2007 of 56.14. I'd say the chances of the current world record holder not wearing a body suit in 2009 is slim but I can't count it out. My time today was 0.40 seconds faster than my time of 55.23 at the 2012 Olympic Trials! I'm very proud of my performance today.
Next was my 50m Freestyle. I've never liked the event, mostly because it requires absolute race perfection and I simply don't swim that flawless. I was aiming at my body suit time from 2008 of 23.78. I had a good race but must have breathed about 4 times... really quite sloppy. I touched in a lifetime best time of 23.73!
Today was a great day.
2012 USMS Summer Nationals Day 1 Preview
Today I swim the the 100m butterfly and the 50m free. The timeline is not exact but it should be something like:
100m Butterfly at 11:48am Central (12:48pm Eastern) heat 14 lane 3
50m Freestyle at 12:58pm Central (1:58pm Eastern) heat 35 lane 4
Live Results:
http://www.usms.org/comp/lcnats12/realtime/
Live Steam Video:
http://www.usms.org/comp/lcnats12/stream.php
Ready to race tomorrow
I walked the brutal 5 minutes to the pool from my hotel and got all the final registration stuff done for the 2012 USMS Summer Nationals meet beginning tomorrow (for me). In the morning I swim the 100m Butterfly followed by the 50m freestyle an hour later.
The venue itself is totally different. It has essentially been gutted compared to last week. Any decoration of the interior or exterior of the building has been removed in preparation for it's next event. The only things that remain are the pools. I almost made a drastic error as I accidentally turned down the hallway towards what used to be the mens locker rooms. For some reason they swapped the mens for the womens locker rooms. I haven't a clue why they would change all the signs and go through the effort for no apparent benefit. The new mens locker rooms are larger anyway, the women got the bad deal on this one.
Time for some food and some good sleep.
Impressive Live Video Feed!
The 2012 USMS Summer Nationals has an impressive live video feed!
http://www.usms.org/comp/lcnats12/stream.php
In a few ways it's even better than trials! I'm impressed. It features a scoreboard inset like a picture in picture.
In Omaha again!
I arrived in Omaha this afternoon. I get that funny feeling that I was just here 5 days ago...
I'm excited to race here again but as I passed the CenturyLink Center (where the pool is), I saw how much has changed in just a few days. During the Olympic Trials, there was excitement in the air, decorations everywhere, the city was talking about it. The entire building was dressed up in red, white and blue. As I passed it today, all the decorations have been taken down, it looks like nothing like it did last week. In a sense, the magic is gone.
It's sort of what I thought would happen. Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing facility and I'm SO glad I get to race here again with the added benefit of being able to race 6 events plus relays. Just somehow, it's not as special to me as it was last week. I'm hoping that the excitement of my fellow masters swimmers rubs off on me while I'm here. I know hundreds of masters swimmers will be blown away by this facility and I hope their smiles will become my own over the next few days.
Time to go loosen up for my races beginning tomorrow morning. I'm lucky to be staying within walking distance to the pool this time!
Hold that taper!
I returned to Michigan for a few days to take a break from Omaha. On Monday we did a threshhold set which I did about 1/2 of totaling about 4,000 meters. My plan was to increase my workload for one day and then have two lower effort days with some short fast swimming. Tuesday was a recovery workout for everybody, I swam a 3,000 meters and wednesday was a short 1,000 meter workout. I leave for Omaha again on Thursday morning.
A nice article was written about the USMS athletes competing in Summer Nationals:
http://www.usms.org/features.php?id=300
A well done video was posted as well.
An exciting finish to the 2012 Olympic Trials!
It was a great finish to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. Multiple people I was cheering for made the team on the last day of competition!
The first, and possibly the most exciting was Davis Tarwater:
http://swimswam.com/2012/07/davis-tarwater-added-to-us-olympic-team/
Davis just missed the team in 2008, it was a heartbreak for everybody who knew him. I'm friends with many people who call Davis a great guy. I'm not personally friends with him but congratulate him at all the meets since meeting him at the Pro Duel 1 in November 2011. He again narrowly missed the team at this meet by taking 7th in the 200 free (they take 6 swimmers). However, a last minute scratch in the 200 free by Phelps created an open spot on the team in the event. Davis was added on the last day of trials. I couldn't be happier for him. From what I've heard, he is a hard worker and very deserving of a shot at the Olympics.
Second was my teammate at Club Wolverine Connor Jaeger:
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-swim/spec-rel/070212aae.html
Third was Kara Lynn Joyce, a swimmer I've known for 15 years. She placed 2nd in the 50 free to earn a spot in her 3rd Olympic games.
Congrats to all three swimmers!
Connor Jaeger 1600m Free!
Teammate Connor Jaeger at Club Wolverine slightly miscounted in the 1500m freestyle last night, poor guy did 1600m!
Back home for a few days before Masters Nationals
Rather than staying in Omaha between Olympic Trials and USMS Nationals, I chose to return to Michigan for a few days. As nice as Omaha was, I needed a break from the longest meet I've ever attended. I was in Nebraska for 8 days. I was due for a little rest at home before my next competition. I will train with Club Wolverine for a few days before flying back.